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March 25, 2013

SONY NEX-5N / 5R Modular L Brackets from Hejnar PHOTO - Preview

Further to the SONY NEX 7 Modular L Bracket from Hejnar PHOTO presented yesterday Hejnar PHOTO has released another two dedicated Arca-Swiss® compatible L Brackets for the SONY NEX family of mirrorless cameras.
These are addressing the more popular and less expensive mid range SONY models NEX-5N and NEX-5R respectively.
Same as the Hejnar PHOTO SN-7, the SN-5N and SN-5R Modular L Brackets follow the concept of the Hejnar Modular Universal Camera L Bracket previewed a few months ago, but with a dedicated camera base plate and a dedicated L Side plate.

Although, Hejnar PHOTO SN-5N and SN-5R are two different models, dedicated to two different cameras, share the exact same characteristics and specifications but for a tiny detail in the depth of the base plate recess by 1 mm. Therefore, I decided to present them together.

However, the reader has to remember that they are two different products.

The L Bracket

Manufacturer Specification:

Model:

SN-5N / 5R

Length:

3.07" (78 mm)

Height:

2.08" (52.8 mm)

Width:

1.5" (38 mm)

Thickness:

0.95 cm (0.375")

Weight:

2.4 oz (69 gr)

Hardware:

Stainless Steel

Color:

Black hard coat anodized

Material:

6061-T6 Aluminium C.N.C. machined

Made in :

USA

The vertical side is a full width dovetail plate. The base plate is long and narrow following the slim camera body lines, with two anti-twist bosses at the front sides. Two protruding lips one infront and one back, form the base dovetail while there is an extra 1/4"-20 threaded hole for attachment on a tripod / monopod 1/4"-20 stud directly.

Looking the L bracket from the back side we can see a laser engraved Φ mark on the base plate and another on the vertical side, both intended to mark the lens center for proper alignment.

The modular SN-5N/R L brackets come assembled but consist of two parts, the base plate and the L vertical side. A closer look at the L vertical side can reveal the two bosses aside the connecting hole that match a corresponding groove on the base side. These bosses align the vertical side and stabilize it, prevent it from twisting.
The L bracket is accompanied by one 1/4"-20 captive screw for mounting on the camera tripod socket, a longer hex socket screw that retains the vertical side and two Allen hex keys with size matching the screws.

All parts are Precision CNC Machined from solid 6061-T6 Aluminum blocks and are hard coat anodized in a glossy black color. Further, all screws are made of Stainless Steel.

The base plate is formed with a recess to accommodate the small bump at the bottom of NEX-5 bodies which lies under the lens mount. This bump extends more on NEX-5N which in turn specifies the depth of the recess on the base plate. As mentioned in the beginning here is exactly the difference between the Hejnar SN-5N and SN-5R L barckets.

The base plate bottom is carved deeply in order to extract as much as possible material and minimize the weight.

Mounting the Bracket...On the NEX-5N Camera

Hejnar PHOTO Modular SN-5N L Bracket fits perfectly on the slim SONY NEX-5N body holding well with its two bosses not allowing it to twist. Due to the small camera base footprint any lens other than a pancake lens will make the combo front heavy and very easy to twist in portrait orientation.

The L bracket positioning permits to the articulated camera LCD screen to be operated unobtrusively.

The vertical side fits perfectly the size of the camera, while its open structure permits full access to the camera connector ports and strap hook.

On the NEX-5R Camera

As illustrated above, same applies for the SONY NEX-5R camera, besides the small difference in the positioning of the side connector slots and the strap hook.

One of the biggest advantages of a modular L bracket is the ability to remove the vertical side at will and operate the camera with only the base plate on.